Jordie Barrett: All Blacks vice-captain previews the test against the Wallabies

The Bledisloe Cup is back in storage for another year but the Rugby Championship remains up for grabs for all four teams going into the final round. 

The All Blacks are taking on Australia at a sold-out Optus Stadium, while South Africa clashes with Argentina at Twickenham. 

Seven changes have been made to the side, with Scott Barrett returning from injury to his position as captain. 

Vice-captain Jordie Barrett told Mike Hosking a week is a long time in international rugby, as the game has become so competitive and the margins are so small. 

He says they’re making a few adjustments after last week’s game, but the Rugby Championship is there to win if they really want to. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One last crack at the Rugby Championship before we think
about Chicago and Ireland and the end of the year tour.
Of course, the Australians again this weekend in Perth and
Jordi Barrett is with us. Good morning morning, Mike. Now
you've got to be pleased about Scott because you were
the last Barrett standing.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, yeah, not many left, so it's great to have
Scott back. Yeah, it's a big boost for our side.
So yeah, it's good to see him fit and well
and ready to go.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Talk to me about the trump. I mean, it's a
long way to go, isn't it for a single game?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, it is. You figure how far away Perth is
until you sit down on the plane and look at
the screen. So yeah, seven or eight hours over here,
direct from Auckland, which was great. But it's great to
be here. The sun's been out so far this week. Yeah,
low twenty degrees. We're expecting a call a weekend. But
it's good to be in Australia.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
And what about this whole competition? Have you settled in?
You know, you've got a rhythm going there, The two on,
the two off, the travel, the wins, the losses, a year,
you guys sort of in a vibe I'd.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Love to think so, Mike, I feel like, well, hopefully
we've learned from the past two times we had to
back up in test matches in Partecular Argentina and Bonos
Aire's and South Africa and Wellington, and just little adjustments
that hopefully get us a performance this week against Perth.

(01:19):
And we've learned, and other teams in the Rugby Championship
have learned as well that it's a week is a
long time and it's national Rugby is so competitive now
and the margins are so small and it's so competitive.
So yeah, hopefully we can put a good performance out
here on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Now, just quickly, on last week, were you able to
enjoy it because I thought, I mean everyone talked about
the South Africa win, of course, but I actually thought
last week was the best game of all, I mean,
so exciting.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, it was an exciting match. Both teams wanted to play.
I think ball and player was up around thirty eight
thirty nine minutes, which is great for the spectator as well.
And that's the other sort of games we want to
be a part of, put on a show and ultimately
get wins. So look, we feel it's a different Australian side.
Well coached a great depth and they used the ball

(02:10):
well so well. It was an arm wrestled last week
and we were able to put out good periods of
good rugby and we want to try to do more
of the same against a side who again will probably
try and play fast as well.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, if I'd asked you about this, you know, the
competition itself, the quality of the sides before this thing began,
versus what you know now, would the answer be the
same or have you learned a lot?

Speaker 2 (02:32):
The answer probably would be the same. But I guess
the volatility of the competition from week to week I
probably didn't expect you. Look at Argentina, a great side.
They beat the Lions before the Rugby Championship in Dublin.
I've beaten Australia that beat us and they've got sot

(02:55):
Aca this week. And Australia had a great one in
South Africa followed by Winter South Africa the week after
and our results against the Box who are pretty similar.
So the competition is so close. Hopefully it's great for
the fan. Obviously we'd like to be winning all our matches.
But that's the I guess the path we're on. We're

(03:17):
trying to get better and better, so we can I
guess when more.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
And do you think people understand that. I mean, I've
thoroughly personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the contest because of its tightness.
Everyone's beating everybody. Obviously, we want you to win, but
at the start of the game, we don't know that
you're going to win. And that's that's the brilliance of sport,
isn't it. It's exciting.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, rightly or wrongly, it's the players love that. We
love a contest. You learn more from tighter, tough experiences,
going through experiences where you don't want to lose. You
learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about
the team in those moments, and I guess about who

(03:57):
moves the fastest and loans and depths on the run.
But the world rugby is in a great spot, is
I mean on any given day, you can have eight
or nine teams that turn up homer Away and you
probably don't know who's going to win that day. So
I think it's positive for the sport.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Now, talk to me about the mental side and how
you bounce back and how do you deal with that
mental pressure, you know, the key moments against South Africa,
the pressure on you for last week. I mean, how
do you bounce back mentally from those sort of moments.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, the Rugby Championships there to win if we really
want it. We may need a little bit of help
through South Africa and Argentina, but it's there for us
if we want it. Little adjustments from last week. There
were areas where Australia really challenged us. There was a
period in their first half where we felt like we

(04:48):
probably could have put them away. But there are plucky
side and they've shown throughout the championship. They finished well
late and second halves too, so it was good to
get I guess a late try over them put that
game to bed. But they historically perform very well in
Perth afternoon game and they'll be chasing a bonus point

(05:09):
as well to put their name and that hat for
the Rugby Championships. So you're expecting probably an open match.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Obviously there's nothing you can do about it. But all
of these injuries that have affected your side, how do
you adjust on that level? Given there might be a
different bloke on your inside or outside.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
You do it just but sometimes the change is positive
and it gives other guys opportunities, fresh leagues, fresh minds,
and I guess just a willingness and keenness to get
out of there and put their best foot forward. Other
teams have rotated a lot. You look at South Africa,
they'll rotate massively from week to week. It's probably not

(05:46):
something we've done massively in the past, and this week
we're seeing quite a few new fresh faces and that's
always exciting. So it's great for competition. It also gives
guys in the squad one to thirty six the chance
to put their best forward and grab a duty. Something

(06:07):
that's positive.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
No, I think it's a sellout this weekend, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, it's been. Yeah, it's been sold out for a
couple of weeks, I think. So it's amazing. Sixty plus
thousand opt us so.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
I'm thinking all Blacks by twelve or more.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
I hope you're right, Mike.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
I think I will we go well, mate, Jordy Barrett,
who's out of Perth. Sixty thousand, good crowd, isn't it.
We wish them well. Kickoffs about eleven o'clock tomorrow night.
For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks it'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio